Expandable shipping containers have been utilized for several decades by militaries of the world. The ability to ship cargo in the shipping configuration of the ISO (International Standards Organization) container and subsequently, upon arrival, repurpose it as a shelter, either empty or preconfigured, has often been considered advantageous to many government agencies. The term “Hard Wall Expandable ISO” is commonly used to refer to the type of ISO container that expands by means of sliding or pivoting outward panels of which form the floors, walls and roofs of the expanded space. Typical containers of this type are shown, for example, in the following United States patent documents: U.S. Pat. No. 8,650,806 by Condie; United States Publication No. 20120151851 by Cantin et al.; United States Publication No. 20120261407 by Cross et al.; United States Publication No 20070107321 by Sarine et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,622,066 by Dolsby et al.
Hard wall expandable ISO containers are custom-built containers that require built-in-place expansion assemblies. They are large and expensive to ship. They also require skilled labor to perform extensive custom metal weldments that create the expansion.
Although such expansion systems for shipping containers have achieved considerable popularity among militaries and other well-financed government agencies, there has been a continuing need to improve the technology for other markets. One example would be emergency housing funded by donations, in locations where regular ISO containers are available for conversion.